


Fubuki

by doseki



Series: Antipode [1]
Category: Pokemon
Genre: Gen, M/M, Other, death mentioned, implied romantic interest, implied suicidal thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-30
Updated: 2010-08-30
Packaged: 2017-10-11 08:49:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/110577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doseki/pseuds/doseki





	Fubuki

Most trainers don't talk to me. Aside from "Hey, you're Red! Let's battle!"

That's fine. I don't mind that. That's what they come to do. They climb up a mountain which takes several days to scale, not to mention however many wild creatures they have to battle in the freezing cold - even in the middle of summer - desperately needing a shower by the time they reach the summit, all in the name of saying they've battled the Legendary World Champion.

I don't mind that they don't talk. I have nothing to say. I haven't for years.

Just so you know, I'm not one of those crazy old guys with a beard down to my waist and knotted up hair and a gleam in my eye who randomly sings show tunes and babbles gibberish at rocks and lives in the woods. Granted, I'm camping out for the most part, but I do fly back down to civilization every few weeks or so to get a haircut, do laundry, stock up on food and take a hot shower as opposed to dousing myself under freezing cold waterfalls. Then Hikaru flies us back up to the mountain. I suppose anyone could just fly up Mount Silver if they wanted to, but that's part of the challenge. I did it the hard way myself when I first came up here. I know exactly why I came here in the first place. I don't deal well with death. I don't know if anyone does, but I think I took it to the extreme. Most people...they eventually move on. I didn't. I went as far away from all people as I possibly could and still be able to get back to civilization in under an hour on the back of a charizard.

Maybe I'm not much different from one of those guys. I don't deal well with things, so I hole up in the side of the highest mountain between Johto and Kanto with just my Pocket Monsters for company. For eight. _Years._ I mean, yeah, I went home sometimes, just so my mom didn't freak out and think _I_ was dead. But I stopped going around training and capturing monsters, I stopped visiting the gyms and the leagues...I just...stayed on the mountain, and if someone made it to the top to battle, we battled.

And that was fine. If they won, I gave them money. If I won, they gave me money. There were no conversations about the battle, no talking about our pocket monsters, no suggestions, no praise, and no criticism. Money was exchanged, and they'd leave. I guess it was an aura I gave off. I certainly didn't start any conversations, and they didn't either.

There was a girl a few years ago who was a little different. After the battle and she handed me my money, she thanked me. And asked how long I'd had Chuuko (my pikachu.)

I wasn't quite sure how to respond, actually. She looked embarrassed, apologized, and left before I answered. "Over ten years." I sounded like a rusty gate, and wasn't quite sure it was even intelligible.

After that, things went back to normal. The usual odd trainer once every few weeks or so, the visit from my oldest friend (is he still my friend?) and one time rival once or twice a year. We'd battle too, and unlike the random trainers, he'd actually talk to me after battle. Not that I said much back, but he didn't seem to mind or care.

So it was. Battle, eat, sleep, the occasional venture to down to Viridian (which was the closest town in Kanto,) the occasional visit to Pallet to assure my mother I was alive (no cell phone signal on Mount Silver) and a lot of time sitting and simply existing. Thinking hurt too much, so I learned how not to think.

Except for the time that girl showed up. I thought some. I was so out of practice I didn't know how to sort it out. It felt like I had a badly garbled radio signal in my head, and I was tracing three or four conversations at a time, not sure which one to start with.

But that had been several years ago...

"Pikapi?"

I look over at Chuuko. She's the only one of my partners who refuses to stay in a capsule. There's not any wiggle room - she won't do it. She'll shock the hell out of you if you try it. Ookido-hakase tried once. His hair wouldn't settle for a week after. Pikapi is what she calls me. It's her way of getting my attention. I look towards the mouth of the cave, wondering if someone's outside wanting to battle. I get up from a camping chair I've got set up in my little space and walk towards the mouth of the cave, the rubber soles of my shoes grating against the stone floor, echoing weirdly around the cavern, but I'm so used to it I don't notice. Chuuko's claws scratch against it and she follows me. Outside, it's clear and freezing cold, and I know I ought to wear more than the thin jacket I wear up here, but the cave is much warmer...

As usual, it's a trainer, and he's bundled up to the point that I think he must be feeling overheated. "Hi," the kid says, and he can't be more than twelve years old. (I was only ten when I started, but that's beside the point.) He pulls out a case and shows me his badges. He has eight from Johto and six from Kanto. Enough to show that he's gone through the Elite Four as well as the League Champion, and still keep going in Kanto. "Red, I challenge you to a battle!"

Of course he does. I don't say anything. I simply gesture at him to stand away from me so there's space for us to have this thing. He does, looking at me somewhat curiously.

The battle itself is nothing remarkable. The same thing I've gone through time and time again. At the end, he forks over some money and bows deeply to me. He has a Latios which is still in decent enough shape, and he hops on its back and flies down the mountain. My partners have barely taken any damage, but I administer the spray on medicine to them anyway, minor as the scratches are. Hikaru (my Charizard) is the biggest baby about it, and growls and complains while I spray a scrape. When I'm done, I pat his nose and recall him to his ball. Chuuko hasn't taken any damage at all, so she simply watches and follows me back into the cave, making noises at me about lunch.

Several hours later, after lunch and I've settled down in a camping chair to read a book, Chuuko once again gets my attention by calling my name. "Pikapi!" This time it sounds urgent. She's already running towards the mouth of the cave, sounding distressed. I don't have to go outside to see the reason for her distress. Clouds are rolling up the mountainside and there's a cold wind in the air. The nice thing about Kanto is that the weather is rarely, if ever, extreme. Even up here on Mount Silver in the middle of winter, it's cold, but not bitter. This wind has a bite to it, and the clouds are dark and angry looking. My jacket feels like it may as well not exist.

"Let's go back inside," I say, my voice hoarse from lack of use. Chuuko follows me, and I let Hikaru out. It's been cold before, and he's usually enough to keep it toasty next to my little futon and pile of blankets that make up my bed. Chuuko continues to look anxious and keeps darting to the mouth of the cave and back again, her little squeaky voice shrill with anxiety. I offer her an apple to munch. It usually calms her down when the weather's a little unusual, but this time, she takes a single bite and goes back to darting near the mouth of the cave.

She does this for several minutes, which I finally ignore after a while, settling down into my chair and going back to my book when I hear her shrill "PIKAPI!"

I have to wonder how many times she said it before I noticed, but I put my book aside and sigh, making my way back to the mouth of the cave. Surprisingly, Hikaru follows me, going down on all fours (he's too big to stand upright in the cave) making worried noises of his own. "What's with you?" I ask, my voice sounding less hoarse. Wow, two sentences in one day, it's a record.

"Pichupi!"

Now she's got my attention. Pichupi is what she calls Green. Didn't he already visit this year, or was that last...? I watch as she darts outside, and I can already see that visibility is starting to be limited with snow sifting down, spiraling in the winds. "...Green?"

"Look, I know you think you're a monster whisperer or a mystic or whatever the fuck it is you're making yourself out to be up here on this mountain, but you can't be up here right now," he says. I realize he's wearing a heavy anorak and is holding a bundle out to me. "Put this on."

I must look like an idiot, because I just stare at him and don't say anything. He sighs, pushing some of his auburn hair away from his face. "Don't you pay attention to the radio at all? They've been giving warnings all day. Sub zero temperatures, a huge blizzard that's going to cover most of western Kanto...you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"I don't get much of a signal up here," I say, wondering what he wants me to do with the bundle which I still haven't taken.

"Oh for god's sake," he says. He walks up to me and throws it over my shoulders, and lifts up one arm, tugging it through a sleeve. It's an anorak like his, though it's a bit tight over my own jacket. Still, it's warm.

"I got it," I say, pulling it on the rest of the way.

"Well, pack up, you're leaving," he says. Chuuko follows after him into the cave, and I just stand there dumbly once again, until I hear him calling out my name. "Red, get in here!"

I follow him in, and I see him studying my camp space. Hikaru stayed behind in the cave, and he's curled up behind my futon. There's that, my little grill, a kettle, a duffle bag and a backpack, and my camping chair. Everything goes into the bags. Travel light, that's the motto of a trainer. "You know where this stuff goes, pack it up. Hikaru can take us both when you're ready."

"Pichupi pika chaaa Pikapi," Chuuko says. It takes me a moment to digest. I understand her well enough, but going years without really talking to people, never mind my partners, it's harder for me to process it. _Green's got a good point, Red,_ is essentially what she means.

"I guess," I say. Green understands her just as well as I do, and looks slightly smug at that. I go over to my little camping area and unzip bags, starting to roll up my futon. Hikaru gets up and shuffles around me, going over to Green to get scratched under the chin.

"You _can_ carry us both, right?" he says to my charizard. Hikaru gives a low rumbling growl in response and Green laughs. The noise startles me, because I haven't heard laughter in...I don't know how long. "Yeah, I know. Unfortunately, some of _my_ partners have gotten a bit soft from lack of exercise. Red, hurry up! This blizzard's coming in quick. Do you need help?"

I shake my head, but Green doesn't seem to notice, and he comes over and starts shoving things into the duffle bag, never mind that I have a very particular order that I like to keep everything in. "Hey!"

"You can be anal about it later. This blizzard is serious business." He pauses and laughs again, and I realize that I actually _like_ the sound of his laugh. Laughter. I think I've missed it... "You know what I mean," he says. "C'mon, c'mon, we don't have all day. I bet your mom will be thrilled to see you anyway." He finishes shoving things into the duffle bag and squeezes the rest into the backpack. He lets me take the backpack and he takes the duffle bag (which is much bigger and heavier, but he doesn't seem to care) and ushers us out of the cave. I realize with a spark of jealousy that Chuuko is sitting on _his_ shoulder and not mine, though Hikaru is pacing closely behind me.

Once we're outside, I realize Green isn't kidding. The snow is starting to fall thicker and bits of ice sting my cheeks. "It's snowing hard," I say lamely as Hikaru crouches down so we can get on him. I climb up first, and settle down somewhere behind his wings, and feel Green getting up behind me. It takes us a moment to get situated, but eventually, the duffle bag and the backpack get situated between Hikaru's wings, Chuuko clinging to the top of them, and me holding onto the bags so they won't fall off, and Green holding on to _me_ so he won't fall off.

"Well?" he says. "C'mon, man, this is your monster, not mine. Tell him where to go." Green's breath is kind of hot on my cold ear, but I'm not sure what it is I'm trying to think of or not trying to think of. The radio garble is in my head again.

"Pallet," I tell Hikaru, and we're off. Viridian is maybe twenty minutes to half an hour away by flight. Pallet is further, maybe forty-five minutes to an hour, and I realize that I have absolutely no idea what to say to the man that's known me since I was an infant.

His Grandfather is my mother's godfather. Green met me when I was a week old. He's only two years older than me, but he says he remembers it because I punched him in the nose. Rivals from the start, he likes to say. Except it was more than that. He was kind of like a big brother too. He showed me pocket monsters before we were allowed to even go near them in his grandfather's lab. He walked me to school the first day. When we got older, we fought like most boys, but we also still played together. When he went off on his journey as a trainer, he'd come back home every month and tell me about it. When I began my own journey, we still met up all the time. We used to _talk_. Or argue. We did a lot of that too. But it was never awkward between us. For a while, we did pit ourselves against each other pretty harshly. Not only in training, but in school too, despite the two years between us. But it was fun. It was a challenge. I loved it. So did he. It gave us both something to strive for. And then, one day, I beat him. And I kept going. And going. Until...in Kanto, there was nothing left for me to go for. I'd become The Champion. That was it.

But that's when I realized that things were still good between us. Because he came to my celebration to congratulate me, and he was sincere. He helped me get away from the media, who'd shown up uninvited. We hung out and talked by the lake in Pallet for hours. It was great.

Things went back to normal. The media calmed down. I went to the various gyms (Green had his own now) and battled or watched battles. I battled the Elite Four occasionally. I worked on school stuff. It was a good life.

And then there was the accident. I'd become friends with Masaki, the guy who invented the computer data system for pocket monsters. Granted, we didn't see each other much, but we emailed and called often enough. It was an aneurysm, no warning, completely unexpected. At his funeral, I found out that he'd left most of his estate to me (having no family of his own, no kids, no siblings, and his parents had passed on), and something inside me snapped. I didn't think we were _that_ good of friends. I was only sixteen at the time. I had no idea what to do with an estate. The lawyers and my mother got together, and it would be in her care until I was eighteen. After all the legal mess what straightened out, I got up one morning, packed up, and left. I ended up at the top of Mount Silver, and just...stayed.

"Red?"

Green's voice brings me back to the present. I haven't dug around in the past for years, and suddenly...I realize my chest hurts and in my worry about what to say to my oldest acquaintance, I've completely zoned out, thinking. "Huh?"

"You're not feeling numb, are you?"

Hikaru's skin keeps my ungloved hands warm, and Green's body heat is actually making me feel kind of hot. "No," I reply.

Green never asked me why I went up the mountain in the first place. He showed up a month after I'd settled in, asked me if I was interested in taking over the Fuchsia City Gym because Kyo was retiring. I'd said no, we had a battle, and he left after that.

He never asked. And I never told. I lied when I said I was numb. Inside I am. I think that realization might've hurt me several years ago. Right now, it's just another fact.

I look up and blink against the snow, which isn't coming down as hard as it was on the mountain, but we're going east, and weather tends to go from west to east in Kanto. "Chuuko, are you cold?" I ask her.

She's clutching to the duffle bag straps, and her fur's fluffed out, buzzing with static. She shakes her head. "Chu."

All the static in my head is getting noisier, but I'm starting to be able to distinguish something which bubbles to the surface. "Green?"

Green must be lost in his own thoughts, because he's not his usual talkative self. "Hm?"

"Why did you come up to get me?"

I hear him laugh...and realize once again, I really _do_ like the sound. "I knew you wouldn't think to come down, even if you had heard the radio."

I'm floored by his response, because he's right. "How did you know that?"

"You've been a hermit for a while now, and I think you forget that you're still part of the rest of the world. Epic blizzards affect hermits too. And your partners could probably use a good romp around the ranch for a while. Grandfather said it was okay," he adds.

Ookido-hakase has by far the biggest plot of land in Pallet, and the ranch is pretty much a monster haven. I know that some people come from as far as Hoenn to let their monsters stay on the ranch for a while. Plus, there'd be food, and bedding... "...thank you," I say, wondering if that's the right thing to say.

"Eh, no big deal," Green says. "Don't fall asleep," he warns, seemingly out of the blue. "Stay awake until we get to Pallet."

"Okay."

I spend the rest of the flight half paying attention to Chuuko and half paying attention to the radio garble in my head. Whatever clarity I had has disappeared, and fortunately, Green's not talking either, so I don't have to try to pay attention to him too. Chuuko's fur is fluffed up to the point where she looks twice her size, and I can faintly see static sparking through the yellow hairs. And I now realize why Green tells me not to fall asleep. I could easily just doze, but I've heard stories about people going to sleep in the cold and never waking up. Not that going to sleep and not waking up doesn't sound attractive in its own way.

I'm surprised when Hikaru touches down outside of the Ookido residence. It's snowing heavily, but temperature wise, it hasn't reached the bitter point yet, and the winds aren't nearly as strong as they were up on the mountain. Green and I both slip off of Hikaru's back. Chuuko follows suit, and she settles herself in the fur-lined hood that I never bothered to pull up on the anorak. Hikaru delicately removes the bags with a claw, handing me the backpack and Green the duffle bag. I recall him to his ball and glance over at Green. He gestures at me to follow him in. "Let's get your monsters situated first." He leads the way inside through the side door. It's a house that I'm as familiar with as my own, and I know we're going in the side door to the mudroom so we can leave our wet shoes there. I leave my backpack too and follow Green inside to the kitchen where the heat blasts me in the face with force. I actually blink a few times, my eyes watering from the temperature change.

"Yo! Gramps? Where are ya?" Green bellows as he unzips his anorak and pulls it off.

"Where's Nanami?" I ask, referring to his older sister. I unzip my anorak too, so I'm not about to die from heat, but I leave it on so Chuuko can stay snuggled up in the hood until she's ready to come out.

Green gives me a funny look. "Nanami hasn't lived here for years," he says. "She's thirty-one after all. She moved to Celadon, re...she moved to Celadon," he says, stopping himself from saying 'remember?'

Cuz he knows I don't. "Do you?" I ask, wondering if he'll get on my case for not knowing. "Oh, you live in Viridian now, right?"

We're interrupted by Ookido-hakase walking in from the living room. "Red, good to see you got here before you turned into a popsicle. Green, if you're going back to Viridian, you'd better leave now before it gets worse."

Green grins at his grandfather. "Shoving me out the door already? Geez, and here I was, trying to help Red get settled."

Ookido-hakase looks at me and then at Green. "I suppose the gym's already closed, and probably won't re-open until this blizzard is over," he says thoughtfully. He grins back at Green, and they look more like father and son than grandfather and grandson, the similarity is that striking. "I won't cry if you stay a while. You and Nanami never visit this old man anymore."

"Don't guilt trip me," Green says, tossing his anorak onto a chair. He goes over to one of the cabinets and starts pulling out mugs. "Red, do you want anything hot to drink?"

Chuuko shifts a few times and crawls out of my hood, hopping down to the floor. "Chaaa," she says, trotting over to Ookido-hakase and rubbing her head against his leg. He kneels down to pet her.

I shake my head. "I should probably get my partners settled and go home," I say. Home. It sounds strange to me.

"Good idea," Ookido-hakase says, straightening up. "Come along, we'll do that. Yes, I want something hot to drink," he adds to Green, even though he hadn't asked. I zip up my anorak again, and we go to the mudroom. Chuuko has elected to stay inside, probably to try to con Green out of some cocoa. I slip on my shoes while he dons a parka and puts on some boots and gloves, and we go back outside, where the winds have picked up and the snow is beating against our faces. Fortunately, the path to the ranch has wooden railings on both sides, since our visibility is pretty poor, and the huge building where the monsters stay is right there at the end of the path. He opens the heavy door, and inside, it sounds like a madhouse. The tweets and bellows and trumpets and squeaks and barks of various monsters inside greet us. "Settle down, settle down," Ookido-hakase says. "Yes, I know it's snowing, but you're all fine."

Amazingly enough, the din quiets down, though there are still a few odd squeaks and chirps here and there. He leads me down the central aisle about several stalls down until we reach some empty ones. Some are big, some are small, some medium sized. All perfect for keeping pocket monsters warm and comfortable and able to stretch out as opposed to being kept in those capsules all the time. Ookido-hakase looks at me and smiles. "Well, let's get started."

It takes about half an hour to get the stalls situated for my various partners, but when we're done, they're all settled and have food and water and bedding and look content.

Going back to the house is another adventure altogether. If it weren't for the railings, I'm sure we'd never make it back, but as it is, we have to force our way back to the house. There's zilch visibility, and I can barely hear Ookido-hakase over the howling wind, and can just barely make out the dark blue of his parka in front of me. Whatever he's saying, I'm not hearing it, and I try to yell as much, but my voice gets swallowed by the elements.

He suddenly grabs me by the wrist and jerks me forward for several steps, because the railings have ended, and I haven't a clue which direction to go. Fortunately, he does, and we end up in the mudroom once again. My fingers are stiff and hurt as I unzip the anorak again and reach down to pull off my shoes. "Looks like you'll be staying here too," Ookido-hakase says. "I'll call Hanako and let her know that you're here safe," he says, referring to my mother. "God knows you don't need to get lost trying to walk down the street in this mess." We go back into the kitchen, where Green has mugs of fragrant hot cocoa waiting.

"I called Toraeru-san to let her know you were staying here tonight," Green says, handing me a mug of hot cocoa. "God knows you don't need to get lost trying to walk down the street in that mess."

I make a noise that startles me and realize that it's a laugh. So does Ookido-hakase. "Brilliant, Green," he says with a wink. "I just said the same thing," he says, accepting a mug. "Not like you haven't stayed over here before, right, Red?"

I nod, taking a sip of the hot drink, thinking about the events of the day and wondering why the radio static in my head has suddenly gotten a lot louder.


End file.
